Governors – New Group of Seven Emerges

Daily Independent (Lagos)

Segun Adeleye, Idris Salisu,Gbenga Abegunrin,Abdulkareem Haruna And Dele Moses

29 April 2011

analysis

Abeokuta/Gusau/Kaduna/Maiduguri/Ilorin — Meet the seven newest additions to the elite group of governors in Nigeria. You may call them the G7. They have between now and May 28 to learn all the tricks from their godfathers and a little extra from their opponents in the last elections.

Amosun Ajimobi Yari Abubakar Dankwambo

Amosun: Principal partner in Government House

Born into the family of late Abdul-Lasisi Sanusi Amosun and Rafatu Amosun (nee Akinbola) in January 25, 1958, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is an Owu indigene like former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He attended African Church Primary School, Abeokuta, between 1965 and 1970 before he berthed at the African Church Grammar School, also in the city where he was between 1971-1977.

Amosun, who prides himself as a thoroughbred homeboy, also attended Ogun State Polytechnic where he obtained the Higher National Diploma (HND) in 1983 before he coasted home with a Masters in International Finance from the University of Westminster, in London. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Institute of Taxation, Amosun cut his professional teeth with Lanre Aremu and Co. where he rose to the position of a manager after which he became senior consultant with XtraEdge Consulting.

Now, he is a principal partner of Ibikunle Amosun and Co., which he founded in 1990. In 2003, he found politics, when he contested as a senator representing Ogun Central senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The father of four girls and a boy, the self-made man got married to Olufunso Amosun, nee Odesanya, in 1991. He was chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, member, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Foreign Affairs Security and Intelligence and Privatisation.

His becoming Ogun governor-elect was made possible by the lackluster performance of the ruling PDP, especially the attitude of the executive at the state in the last four years where the implosion in the party was not well managed. The infighting within the party led to its polarisation and the easy passage, which the senator enjoyed under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to emerge victorious.

The love he enjoyed from the people when he was believed to have won the 2007 governorship race, which he ran under the banner of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), was also responsible for his success at last Tuesday’s polls.

Dankwambo: From accountant-general to governor-elect

“Alhaji Hassan Dankwambo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared elected”.

These were the words of Professor Karta Yaganami, the returning officer of the 2011 governorship election while declaring the result of the April 26, 2011 poll at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Gombe on April 27, 2011.

According to Yaganami, Dankwambo scored 596,481 to beat his closest rival, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) who polled 91,78.

The result was, however, a source of controversy as party agents of ANPP, CPC and SDMP declined to sign because of alleged irregularities while those of PDP, ADC and LP signed the result sheet. The refusal to sign does not invalidate the election result according to the Electoral Act 2010, thus Dankwambo stands elected.

Reacting to the declaration, a member of the Technical Committee of Dankwambo Campaign Organisation who was also the agent of his gubernatorial election and Commissioner for Sports and Culture, Alhaji Ahmed Yayari, opined that “the emergence of Dankwambo as the governor-elect on the platform of PDP was not a surprise because Gombe stands is a PDP state. Dankwambo is a leader who will take Gombe to another level. He will bring his wealth of experience and exposure to bear in piloting the affairs of Gombe. His antecedent and pedigree stand him out among his contemporaries.”

Speaking in the same vein, a PDP representative from Yamaltu Deba and Commissioner for Higher Education, Alhaji Mohammed D. Hassan, described the election of Dankwambo as “a choice in the right direction. Dankwambo is a seasoned and reputable accountant who has proved his mettle in any challenge before him. He has the wherewithal to make Gombe great. The choice of Gombe electorate is not a misplaced one. He is the right person to take over from His Excellency, Alhaji Muhammadu Goje”.

Dankwambo was born in Gombe about 50 years ago. A chattered accountant, he attended Central Primary School Gombe, Government Secondary School Billiri and Bauchi State College of Arts and Science. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and graduated with B.Sc Accounting in 1983 with Second Class Honours. A Fellow of Certified National Accountant and a member of Institute of Chattered Accountant of General (ICAN), Dankwambo was Accountant-General of Gombe state before he was appointed Accountant General of the Federation, a position he was holding before he had a call from his people to come home and contest the governorship election in 2011.

Yari Abubakar: Product of an offended godfather

Last Tuesday’s governorship election which produced Abdul’azeez Yari Abubakar of ANPP as the third civilian governor-elect after defeating the incumbent Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi of the ruling PDP is one historical event Zamfara indigenes will not forget in a hurry.

Before now, Zamfara was among the states in the country where people believed that the governorship election would be very tough considering the fact that the battle was between former Governor Ahmed Sani Yarima and Shinkafi who was deputy governor for eight years and subsequently elected under the ANPP before defecting to the PDP. His former boss never forgave him.

Abubakar, a young politician and a grassroots activist was son in-law to Shinkafi, and before his election was a member of the House of Representative representing Talata Mafara/Anka Federal constituency. His loyalty to his political godfather, Ahmed Yarima, as well as respect to all irrespective of party affiliations helped him become popular and acceptable to people in the state.

The governor-elect began his political career as ANPP secretary in Zamfara during the administration of Yarima from 2002 and eventually became the state party chairman till 2007 when he was elected member, House of Representatives. He was very close to Yarima and learnt at his feet. He promised during his campaign to bring about rapid socio-economic development to the state if elected governor. He also promised to give priority to human development in order to alleviate poverty.

“I shall do all in my power, Insha Allah, to accelerate the pace of development of the state to catch up with other states that have moved on and left our state behind in development strides,” he promised.

After Tuesday’s votes were counted he polled 514,962 to beat Shinkafi who managed to garner 460,656. The victory is for him as much as it is for Yarima, who had promised to teacher the incumbent a bitter lesson in politics for biting the finger that fed him.

Ajimobi: Arresting a retired policeman’s ambition

The governor-elect in Oyo state, Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi, is a son of the late Ibadan politician and a childhood friend to late Lamidi Adedibu, Jimoh Ajimobi.

Abiola Ajimobi, who grew up as a son of a prominent politician, obtained a Bachelor degree in Business Administration, after his primary and secondary education which he had in Ibadan. After his tertiary education he joined the services of one of the foremost oil-producing multi-national companies, where he rose to the position of the managing director.

After his retirement, Ajimobi went into the murky waters of Oyo politics in 2002 and was elected as the senator representing Oyo South on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 2003. As a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the politician distinguished himself as one of the anti-corruption fighters in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly.

He was one of the few senators who reportedly rejected the N50 million bribe offered for the actualisation of the aborted third term ambition of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In 2007 he defected to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) where he contested the seat of the Oyo State governor but lost to the incumbent Adebayo Alao-Akala of the PDP.

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